May 16 - June 5, 2019

Before all the summer theatre events are truly underway - take a moment to reflect on the best shows you saw this past season - what did you want to see more of? What did you love? Let me know if you have any thoughts you'd like to share with the valley theatre community!

The next issue will include events through June 12. Submit upcoming events via the link below or by emailing me before Tuesday at midnight. Any questions, comments or feedback? Email me at pioneervalleytheatre@gmail.com

Submit Your Theatre Event

YOUR EVENT HERE
$5 per week for your poster and ticket link in top billing!
Email me to reserve your dates.

THIS WEEK IN THEATRE NEWS:

from Howlround
Responsible Theatremaking: Content Warnings and Beyond
by Sydney Isabelle Mayer

From the article:

Treating audiences and fellow artists with care and respect is paramount when it comes to creating theatre. In an age when every production has the capability to reach and impact large groups of people, artists need to be mindful of how their choices affect the public—especially with regard to sensitive content.

Have you read an interesting article about theatre recently? Send it to me! pioneervalleytheatre@gmail.com

Want to know even more about events in the Pioneer Valley and beyond,
including reviews, interviews, and previews?
In the Spotlight, Inc.
Berkshire on Stage
Stagestruck
ArtsBeat Radio and News Colum n

Click to Access: Pioneer Valley Theatre Personnel Spreadsheet

PERFORMANCES

“THE MARVELOUS WONDERETTES” LIGHT UP MAJESTIC THEATER STAGE MAY 16 - 26

West Springfield's Majestic Theater will transport audiences back to the days of girl group pop music when it presents “The Marvelous Wonderettes” April 11 through May 26. The musical, by Roger Bean, is set in 1958 at Springfield High School. It's the Super Senior Prom, and the previously-booked Crooning Crabcakes can't perform. All hopes are pinned on the Wonderettes, an all-girl singing group that finished third in the State Song Leaders competition. Cindy Lou, Missy, Betty Jean and Suzy not only get the gig, they come back ten years later to perform at their reunion. Popular songs like “Dream Lover,” “Stupid Cupid,” “Lipstick on Your Collar” and other 50's and 60's favorites are featured in the play, which has been described as a "cotton candy musical trip down memory lane!"

Majestic Theater Producing Director Danny Eaton will direct the play with Mitch Chakour serving as musical director. Greg Trochlil is set designer, Dawn McKay is costume designer, Dan Rist is lighting designer and production stage manager is Stephen Petit. Doug Wallace is sound engineer. Actors include Kait Rankins (Missy), Mollie Posnick (Suzy), Tina Sparkle (Betty Jean) and Kaytlyn Vaneloecht (Cindy Lou).

The play closes out the Majestic's 22nd Season. Tickets for these shows range from $24-$34 and are now available by calling or visiting the box office during its hours of operation, which are Monday through Friday 10am – 5pm and Saturday 10am – 1pm.

For additional information, visit www.majestictheater.com.

Happier Valley Comedy presents The Happier Family Comedy Show
Monthly family-friendly improv comedy show, great for 5-12 year olds and their adults. It's funny for the whole family! Saturday, May 18th at 3pm at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art (125 W Bay Rd., Amherst). Tickets at the door: $10/Adults, $5/Kids, Free/4 yrs and under (Reduced admission for museum members). For more info: www.happiervalley.com.

Happier Valley Comedy presents HVC Presents: Not In Charge
Join the talented group Not In Charge for a polished, fast-paced improv show inspired by the improvisers' real life stories! Saturday, May 18th at 7pm at the new Happier Valley Comedy Theater (1 Mill Valley Rd, Hadley, on rte.9). And stick around after for the 9pm showcase and open improv jam! Tickets: $10 online and at the door. For more info: www.happiervalley.com.

SILVERTHORNE THEATER ANNOUNCES
NEW PLAY READING SERIES

An integral part of Silverthorne Theater Company’s mission is to promote the development of new work, especially by Western Massachusetts and New England playwrights. In 2018, we staged the world premieres of three new works, two of which were from such writers.

In 2019 we offer a series of free rehearsed readings of new or new to us plays, , called Theater Thursdays, followed by audience discussions. These will be held in different locations in the region. Complete information for each reading may be found at https://silverthornetheater.org.

The purpose of the readings is to give a platform for new work to be heard, and when possible, to be able to give playwrights direct audience feedback. It also gives Silverthorne a look at plays that we might consider fully producing in future seasons.

RESTORATION ROOM, by Harley Erdman
Directed by Chris Rohmann

Two academics (Melenie Freedom Flynn and Jay Sefton) struggle to resist the power of their mutual intellectual and physical attraction. THE RESTORATION ROOM, the third in Silverthorne’s Theater Thursdays New Play Reading Series is directed by Chris Rohman. Playwright Harley Erdman will be on hand to discuss the play after the reading. Free and open to the public. The purpose of the readings series is to give a platform for new work to be heard, and when possible, to be able to give playwrights direct audience feedback. It also gives Silverthorne a look at plays that we might consider fully producing in future seasons.

The reading takes place on Thursday, May 23 at UMass Fine Arts Center, Room 204, (Curtain Theater entrance to FAC), at 7 pm. For events in the Fine Arts Center building, free and secure parking is available on Massachusetts Avenue in University Lots 32, 34, and 71 after 5:00pm and all day on weekends. Accessible parking is available in the South Entrance Lot in front of the Fine Arts Center building when the appropriate license plate or placard is displayed. Please note: the Visitors Center parking lot and all meters near the Fine Arts Center are pay-to-park from 7:00am to 7:00pm.

Harley Erdman’s recent dramatic writing projects include Wild Thing (2019), a translation of Vélez de Guevara’s 17^thcentury Spanish play about a gender-bending protagonist; the opera librettos The Scarlet Professor (2017) and The Garden of Martyrs (2013), both with composer Eric Sawyer; and the screwball comedy Nobody’s Girl, which debuted at the Northampton Academy of Music in 2014. With Gina Kaufmann and composer Aaron Jones, he is adapting the Don Juan legend into a musical set on a college campus. His cabaret My Evil Twin, created with Eric Sawyer, will be shown at the Ko Festival of Performance this summer. He is the author or editor of six books, including Women Playwrights of Early Modern Spain (2016), which features his translations of ten plays. It won the Josephine Roberts Award. He is a professor in the UMass Theater Department.

Thursday, June 13               DEAR GALILEO, by Claire Willett
                                                Directed by Rebecca Daniels
                                                7 pm   170 Main Street, Greenfield
Three women in three different times wrestle with their identity, the conflict between science and religion, and what it means to be their fathers' daughters…. As the three stories move toward their point of convergence, the destinies of each become inextricably bound with the others, linked through time by love, family, grief, the search for identity and the wonder of the stars.

Thursday, September 12               CAMPUS UNREST, by Talya Kingston
                                                            Directed by Trenda Loftin
                                                            7 pm Location TBA
Complex choices face an inter-racial British academic couple newly arrived on the campus of a troubled American college.

Sunday, October 13                         VERITAS, by Betty Shamieh
                                                            Director TBA
                                                            3 pm   Deerfield Community Center
In the 1660s Harvard College’s governors insisted that Native American youths be trained at the College as Christian ministers to be able to convert their tribes to Christianity. This play explores the lives of the first four of these early converts and the attitudes at the time toward them. Post-show discussion led by historians & members of local Native American communities.

Further details at www.silverthornetheater.org  or call 413-768-7514.

Happier Valley Comedy presents The Happier Valley World Open Cup Grand Prix Series Derby Bowl Championship!

In this competitive comedy show, two teams of improvisers face off through scenes and games to see who can win the ultimate prize: an old trophy we found in someone's attic. Saturday, May 25th at 7pm at the new Happier Valley Comedy Theater (1 Mill Valley Rd, Hadley, on rte.9). And stick around after for the 9pm showcase and open improv jam! Tickets: $13 online and at the door. For more info: www.happiervalley.com.

SHOW Circus Studio Gala Performance- Shipwrecked!
Academy of Music Theatre, Northampton
June 2 at 4:00 PM

SHOW Circus Studio invites you to join us for our 4th Annual Gala Performance! Follow along with an intrepid captain and her first mate as they run across all manner of sea creatures while sailing the seven seas. Starfish, pirates, jellyfish, crabs and sailors will entertain you with amazing circus performances including dynamic partner acrobatics and stunning aerial feats on the rope, horizontal hoop, and trapeze, as well as hand balancing, stilt dancing, unicycling and much more. This performance by SHOW Circus Studio’s Youth Performance Troupe and circus teachers is fun for the whole family.

Tickets

AUDITIONS & OPPORTUNITIES

The Vintage Cellar East

We are a large vintage mall in The Keystone Mill in Easthampton, MA. Check us out if you are a local playhouse or theatre looking to rent props or even buy props for period pieces that can be reused.

Please feel free to email or call 413 977 1978.

CALL FOR AUDITIONS
Black Cat Theater, Inc. is preparing for their Fall production of ONCE UPON A MATTRESS directed by Stephanie Flinker with Alexa Flinker as Music Director. We will be putting a new twist to this iconic show in that it will be an all adult cast (ages 19-90+) only. Auditions for this show will be held on Monday, May 20 th and Wednesday, May 22 nd at 6:00pm in Kidder Hall, All Saints Church, 7 Woodbridge Street, South Hadley.

All roles are open. See Breakdown for synopsis and character details. Interested candidates should bring with them a short biographical sketch (headshot optional) and be prepared to perform a short musical piece. There may also be readings from the script.

Each named role will have a specific song they will be asked to sing from the show. Those auditioning for the Ensemble may sing any song chosen from the show’s song list. Musical accompaniment will be provided. No a cappella please. For character list and song list see the Black Cat Facebook page or email blackcattheater@gmail.com.

Mattress is expected to be produced at South Hadley High School in mid-November. Rehearsals are primarily on Monday and Thursday evenings (with occasional Wednesdays) starting September 9th.

If unavailable to be seen in person please email blackcattheater@gmail.com or leave a message at 413-563-6023.

We are collaborating to plan a multimedia Arts Hub in the three counties of Western Massachusetts and are asking your help in spreading the word so that as many people as possible have a chance to weigh in on how the hub would work best for people in the myriad creative fields.

We are:

the Creative Economy Network (CEN), a regional network of more than 20 arts organizations officially designated by the Commonwealth and working together to support the creative economy of western MA;
Holyoke Media, (website under construction) a non-profit public access multimedia that uses bilingual audio and video production to help to educate, inspire and activate community engagement;
and Itabix Inc a web development and hosting company located in Hadley, MA that has been in business since 2000.

The Community Foundation of Western MA has funded a planning grant to explore developing an multimedia and online ArtsHub that is intended to strengthen the arts and creative sector across the Hampden, Franklin and Hampshire Counties in Western MA with an emphasis on connectivity, visibility and coordination. The vision includes important outcomes of:

Achieving a deepening understanding of the local creative economy, including diversity of programming, organizations, and individuals,
Expanding the possibilities for enhancing and growing the creative sector, emphasizing arts organizations, and artists/creatives of all forms, and those who engage in the arts either as creators, sponsors, hosts, funders, renters, sellers, etc. If you are in any way connected to creativity, we would love to connect with you.
Insuring that the ArtsHub is financially sustainable.

To that end, we created a short survey that includes space for people to add any information/comments/questions.

Could you please complete the survey as well as share this link with your contacts?

https://forms.gle/HcTqwk2PU4pHqY1t6

We will be compiling the answers in the coming weeks and will share the results with everyone.

If you have any questions, please contact

Natalia Muñoz > Director > News > Holyoke Media >
(O) 200-9733 (C) 204-0899
295 High Street #206
Holyoke MA 01040

WORKSHOPS & CLASSES

Announcing the Easthampton Futures Project!

Easthampton City Arts & the City of Easthampton's Planning Department, working in partnership with Dpict, are thrilled to announce the Easthampton Futures Project, a series of facilitated community workshops that will invite members of our community to envision and articulate the future of Arts & Culture for the City of Easthampton.

The information generated in these public sessions will provide the foundation for the next iteration of the Arts & Culture chapter of the City of Easthampton’s Master Plan.

Save the dates!
May 18 // June 1 // June 22
All sessions run from 10am - 4pm
Food will generously be provided by Galaxy

Learn more about how you can participate!

Upcoming Training Programs at Double Edge Theatre

Double Edge Theatre was founded by Stacy Klein to research the role of actors’ training in the development of performance creation. Training is the heart and vitality of Double Edge’s creative process. Since 1982, when it was first developed by Klein based on her work with Rena Mirecka, Grotowski’s founding actor, it has grown to include work with large objects, developed by Klein and David Flaxman from 1985, and then outdoor work and spectacle developed with Carlos Uriona since 1996. Since 2011 Matthew Glassman has been leading the development of training at Double Edge. The unique, holistic methodology engages the actor’s full potential – physical, vocal, emotional, and imaginative – to drive individual exploration, ensemble collaboration, and performance creation.

Open Training: May 19 @ 11 am
Summer Intensive: May 31 - June 14
Spectacle Immersion: May 31 - Aug 24
Fall Immersion: Sept 15 - Dec 8

Summer THEATER Program for Children at beautiful Eaglebrook School

Eggtooth Productions offers A two week sessions of summer theater for children ages 8-13. Click here for our registration form: https://docs.google.com/document/d/17pPyFukqAeMsOx7IK1cST9U3IX-mJoCb4zQWkvxV8TE/edit?usp=sharing
July 29 - August 9, 2019

THEATER with Bill Stewart
Learn about stage play and combat, comic bits, delightful language and the joy that play can bring all while relishing the language of the Bard. Children create their own devised production that will be presented at the end of the session!

The cost is $590 with a limit of 15 children in each section. A check may be made to: Eggtooth Productions 102 Highland Ave., Greenfield, MA 01301. Founded in 1922, Eaglebrook School is located on 750 acres on the Pocumtuck Ridge in Deerfield, MA just off Routes 5 & 10. To learn more about Eaglebrook School or for directions visit: eaglebrook.org

Camp runs 9 AM to 3 PM with mornings devoted to creation and rehearsal. Lunch will be provided in the beautiful Gibbs Dining Hall. Activities including swimming in the Schwab Pool, playing on the fields, and more.
Bill Stewart teaches in the Leverett Elementary School and has taught theater workshops for young actors since 1995. He has played the roles of writer, director, Ultimate Frisbee Player, archaeologist, and especially actor, where he has performed as princes, monsters, & cowboys. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Playwrighting/Performance and a Master's Degree in Education from the University of Massachusetts.